Caray, Caray!

In our 'cuentos' group last night, we read, 'Es que somos pobres,' by Juan Rulfo.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so I'm imitating the layout of your recap, Novelamaven!

The Ferrer clan come over to Mohamed's house.
Here's what you can say to greet you guests the next time you have company:
Bienvenidos, llenan de luz mi casa.
Welcome, you fill my house with light, or
Se llena del luz con la presencia de todos ustedes,
Your presence fills us all with light.

Ali asks Lucas if he is happy in his life.
Lucas says:
La palabra correcto es tranquilo.
The correct word would be tranquility.
Cuando hay tranquilidad, hay felicidad, Lucas.
Where there's tranquility, there's happiness, Lucas, replies Ali.
Si usted lo hice.
If you say so.

When Lucas says that he didn't get the life he dreamed about, Ali can conveniently say that it was his destiny.

Mohamed announces that the same dancer who was at Leo's house is performing for them. [She must be TOBDIM - the only belly dancer in Miami.] Lucas has obligatory flashbacks to Jade dancing for him.

This really must be The Only Dance Club in Miami. Natalia and Andrea show up and who do they find there? Fernando waiting for the belly dancer to finish her gig; Pablo and Alejandro and his ex, Diana. When Karla with a K shows up all hell breaks loose between her and Diana. Alej sees Nati and insists on escorting her home. She has a better idea - a mall. She is going to buy him some clothes.
Es que si vas a ser mi sombra todo el tiempo, prefiero que te parezcas a mí un poquito.
If you are going to be my shadow, I prefer that you look a little like me, says Nati.

At the party, Marisa touches Said accidentally on purpose.

Lucas slips Jade a note and asks her to meet him at an address at 11 the next morning.

Lucia sees that Said hasn't stopped looking at Marisa all evening. She hopes Marisa isn't going to do something stupid.

La mujer de ese hombre me ha robado a mi marido toda la vida. Ya llegó mi turno.
That man's wife has robbed me of my husband for my whole life. Now my turn has come, she replies.

For comic relief the Naz decides that Roberto has been eying her and she hops up and does her 'come hither' dance for him. Lucia jumps up and joins in with a 'this man is taken' dance.

Alej tells Nati that it will take months to pay her back for what she bought him. Nati says that he doesn't have to pay her back. They are work clothes.
¿Pero sabes qué? Si te vuelves a poner ese traje di pingüino, sí te cobro ... y con intereses.
But you know what? If you wear that penguin suit again, you will pay me back ... with interest, says Nati.

She asks him not to tell her grandfather that she snuck out and he tells her to let him know when she is going to sneak out and he'll keep an eye on her from a distance.
As he is leaving, Nati ask Alej for a favor.
¿Será que me puedes dejar de tratar de "usted" y me tratas de "tú"?
Will you stop using the formal 'usted' with me and use the informal 'tu'?
Como quieras, Natalia.
As you wish (using the tu form of the verb), Natalia.

Alej bids her good night.

Ramon, the gossip maven (el chismoso), tells Gloria: Lo escuché sin querer (I heard without intending to) that Karla and Victor the killer have broken up. Ramon pays Prince Amin, a chismoso in training, to find out the details. It appears that when Victor heard about the fight at the club, he sent Karla packing. Gloria walks in on Alej doing upside down pushups - Wow! When she tells Alej about Gloria and Victor, he is happy.

Hilda is furious that Karla ignored her warning and went out to the only dance club in Miami. Now Victor has sent her packing (Victor te mando a cantar rancheras, literally, sent her to sing rancheras) and she and Karla have to live in this pigsty (pocilga). We get an excellent view of Prince Amin getting an excellent view of Karla's boob job.

It's Christmas time in Miami.

Marisa suggests to Leo that they invite 'the Arabs' over to celebrate Xmas with them.

¿Sufras de amnesia?
Nati asks Alej, Are you suffering from amnesia?
Nati can't believe that Alej has shown up for work in his 'penguin suit' and is calling her 'senorita' again. Nati aks Leo to tell Alej to wear the clothes she bought for him. Confused, Leo says, "¿No tiene ropa?" "He doesn't have clothes?" Leo, who knows better than to interfere, endorses Nati's orders for Alej and he goes to change.

Jade's reaction when informed of the plan to have Xmas at the Ferrer's:
Por dios, qué mas pruebas tengo que pasar.
God, how many more tests do I have to endure?

Alej appears in his new working clothes. Now Nati is willing to be seen with him. Alej tries to explain to Leo and Lucas but as men used to dealing with powerful women, they indicate that no explanations are necessary.

Trouble's brewing over the DNA test result mixup. Luisa says that the lab doen't make mistakes with DNA testing. That's why she doesn't take vacations even though she needs them.

For the umpteenth time, Cristina barges in on Leo in his office. She gives him a pair of red shorts as an Xmas gift to match her underwear (the actors looked like they were having trouble keeping a straight face in this scene) and they end up in bed, as usual.

Lucas takes the pendant and goes to what we later find out is his love nest to meet Jade. Jade says that if she doesn't go, she'll die. She says that she will go just to tell Lucas what she thinks of him.

Jade arrives. While Lucas is getting her a glass of water, Said calls. He is stuck in NY because of a snowstorm. He wants her to go to the Ferrer's with Mohamed. He tells her that he has been thinking about it and he can't continue to live in the past. He says that he has nothing more to prove and he trusts her and loves her.

Now we have this verbal conversation between Lucas and Jade plus their thought bubbles.
Lucas says he can't stay long and Jade thinks that she has waited 18 years to be alone with him and now she is nothing more than one of his flings.

Lucas thinks how much he wants to hug and kiss her and wonders why there is such a distance between them.
It's been a long time, says Lucas. He says that when he sees her he remembers the girl who ran through the market to meet him at the ruins. The girl who said that he was written in her destiny.
You remember that? asks Jade
Every word replies Lucas. Where is the girl who used to dance for me?
Jade hears Marisa's lies and says that girl left with her adolescent dreams. She says that Lucas must laugh when he remembers that.
Me? says Lucas, surprised.
Jade asks Lucas if he remembers all the promises he made to her to leave his family, his job and his religion for her.
He says that he does. How could he forget them.
She says that he must almost die laughing when he remembers that.
No, says Lucas, he feels a lot of regret about that time and what pains him the most is knowing that he hurt her.
Jade tells him not to have regrets. She grew up like he did. They did crazy things but she says at least neither of them suffered over it. She echoes Marisa's lies again by saying that it was all like a crazy summer adventure. Lucas looks confused. Jade asks if he is happy.
Lucas half lies and says that he isn't the young man who dreamed of love. He has a stable marriage, manages his father's business - what more could you ask of life?
Jade lies and says that she is very happy with Said. She learned to love him.
Lucas is thinking that he wants to get on his knees and beg her to go away with him to some far away place. But he says that he is glad she is happy and mentions that her family is coming to his house for Xmas. Jade asks Allah to help her feign indifference. She replies that she isn't going. She wants to see the places where she grew up.

Lucas says to himself that he imagined that his meeting would be different. Lucas and Jade mention their children. Lucas' phone rings and he takes the call [unlike Leo in a similar circumstance.] When he hangs up, he says to himself,
Tengo que decirle que no he dejado de amarla, es ahora o nunca.
I have to tell her that I haven't stopped loving her, it's now or never.

Well, I guess it's never 'cause when Lucas turns around from taking his phone call, Jade is gone and he didn't give her back the pendant.

Outside, Jade says to herself,
Fui un idiota, pusa a mi familia y me vida en riesgo. Casi vuelvo a lanzar mi suerte al viento por nada.
I was an idiot. I put my family and my life at risk. I almost threw my luck to the winds for nothing again.

Jade and Lucas tell their confidants, Latifa and Enrique, about the meeting. Lucas says that he couldn't tell Jade what he wanted. She was cold and distant and when he finally decided to tell her what she meant to him, she was gone. Jade tells Latifa that the man she knew never existed. He was only her invention and she gave up so many years of happiness for nothing.

Rosa tells Lucas and Marisa that the Arabs have canceled the Xmas visit but she can't contact Leo.

When Leo can't be contacted, there is only one place he can be - with Cristina.

Now we get a sampling of our characters' Xmas celebrations:

Dora is staying home in case Daniel shows up;

Julio tells Albieri that two more labs redid the DNA test and did not duplicate his results. What's worse is that there is another test result that seems to be incorrect. He suggests that maybe two results got switched. Luisa looks stricken and Alicia is smirking. Albieri says they shouldn't talk business on Xmas. Tomorrow, he will find out what happened;

Fernando is headed out. Escobar tells him to stay home on Xmas and appeals to Clara. She sweetly points out that Fernando announced his plan a week ago and she asked Escobar to talk to him about it and he said that he would. Obviously, he wasn't paying any attention to what she said as usual. She says,
Entonces, ahora la mandarina te la chupas tú solo.
So now you deal with it, literally, so now you suck the mandarin orange by yourself.
Merry Christmas says Fernando and leaves; and

Alej buys Nati a bracelet for Xmas. He tells her that it brings good luck, especially in love. She gives him a kiss on the cheek.

Lucas unobtrusively leaves the party at his house.

Mohamed and his family watch the rowdy Xmas celebration at Gloria's. While Ali tells the children the story of Xmas from the point of view of Islam [it seems impossible that Zamira, at least, would never have heard the Xmas story before but whatever] Jade unobtrusively leaves the house. Lucas and Jade are walking in the street [Lucas lives in Key Biscayne so he must have driven to Jade's neighborhood or maybe it's magical novela teleportation.] They see each other. Wordlessly, Jade throws herself into Lucas' arms. They kiss.

The credits roll.

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